I like a twisted sense of humour. On 'A History of Violence,' David Cronenberg and I would be doing the grimmest scenes and laugh a lot.

As [John] Tolkien himself said, the story [Lord of the Ring ] is not allegorical. He said so when people tried to make analogies to World War II and the fight against Hitler and his fascist coalition.

In a movie, you're raw material, just a hue of some color and the director makes the painting.

You should always do the things in life that are both interesting and make you afraid.

I love rehearsing, but a lot of directors don't, and some actors don't.

Those who have the power and should be the most responsible are often the least responsible.

I'm just looking as always for something that's stimulating and I hope to find a good story that's a challenge, whether it's big or small. Or that it finds me. I don't have like a career plan. Maybe I should, but I don't.